Evolution

Why Northern Europeans Evolved Lighter Skin- Protection From The Elements?

The dominant hypothesis for the reason that northern Europeans developed light skin is that they needed to absorb more ultraviolet (UV) light to make more vitamin D, which is vital for healthy bones and immune function. Not so, says a U.C. San Francisco d ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2014 - 1:17am

Altitude Adaptation Of Tibetans Might Be From Extinct Denisovans

Evolutionary adaptations have allowed Tibetans to have no trouble living at 13,000 feet, but how they became able to conquer the harsh environment of hypoxia has long been a mystery. ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 6 2014 - 2:00pm

It's Not Sex But Something Weird Happens Between Axinaea Flowers And Bird Pollinators

A small tree or shrub found in mountainous Central and South American rainforests has a most unusual relationship with the birds that pollinate its flowers, according to a new study- the plant known as Axinaea offers up its male reproductive organs as a t ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 5 2014 - 6:26pm

A Revised Timeline Of Human Origins?

Many traits unique to humans are thought to have originated in the genus Homo between 2.4 and 1.8 million years ago in Africa. What are the evolutionary factors that drove them? A large brain, long legs, the ability to craft tools and prolonged maturation ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 3 2014 - 8:00pm

Biology's Labyrinth: Ancient Chinese Human Had Inner-ear Formation Of Neanderthals

Recent re-examination of a 100,000 year old early human skull using micro-CT scans has revealed the interior configuration of a temporal bone thought to occur only in Neanderthals. The fossilized human skull was found during 1970s excavations at the Xujia ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 7 2014 - 5:20pm

Uner Tan Syndrome: Walking On All Fours Is Not Backward Evolution

What 'separates us from the animals'. as the saying goes? Not a lot. We're all animals, of course, but among primates there is an easy-to-spot difference: Humans tend to walk in lateral sequences, a foot down and then a hand on the same sid ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 16 2014 - 4:51pm

Acquired Inheritance? Effects Of Starvation Can Be Passed To Future Generations

Evidence from human famines and animal studies suggests that starvation can affect the health of descendants of famished individuals, but how such an acquired trait might be transmitted from one generation to the next? A new study involving roundworms fin ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 8:33am

Cancer's 'Footprint' On Human Evolution

The relics of ancient viruses preserved in the genomes of 38 mammal species have provided insight into cancer’s ‘footprint’ on our evolution. Viral relics are evidence of the ancient battles our genes have fought against infection. Occasionally the retrov ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 17 2014 - 2:42pm

Looking For Alien Life? Look To The Oceans

A new paper in Astrobiology says we will need to look to oceans to find life on Earth-like planets. Most computer simulations of habitable climates on Earth-like planets have focused on their atmospheres, but as is easily seen on Venus, the presence of oc ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 21 2014 - 12:00am

Probiotic Plus: Fecal Transplants Let Packrats Eat Toxic Food

Woodrats lost their ability to eat toxic creosote bushes after antibiotics killed their gut microbes. Woodrats that never ate the plants were able to do so after receiving fecal transplants with microbes from creosote-eaters, University of Utah biologists ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 21 2014 - 4:00am